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Why it's called football, not soccer

Craig Foster

Let's get one thing straight, the game is called football in every country where it is respected and valued around the world. The official change in moniker in Australia was one of the most important moments in the history of the sport here, because names and terms denote respect and have the power to overcome prejudice.

I recently wrote in my book, Fozz on Football, about the "Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis", which in simple terms argues that language can define the way a person behaves and thinks.

For example, this is why the use of the word ''curriculum'' in relation to Australia's new methodological direction is important, because it captures the essence of what we are now focusing on, a deep and sophisticated football ''education'' for every child, not merely ''training''.

And why the game is football.

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Language does shape reality and today there is a new reality for the game in this country. Just as the growth of football has closely mirrored the rise of immigration - the influx came from all corners of the earth and most people brought the love of football in their heart - more importantly, the acceptance of the game exactly follows the acceptance of multiculturalism.

Australia is eagerly embracing football precisely because we are hungrily embracing the rest of the world, are more outward-looking than ever before, are maturing in our acceptance of what modern Australia looks like and of what an Australian actually is. Our citizens are incredibly diverse, with an array of cultural backgrounds, ideas and views, but all united by our love of the country's core values.

These values are equality, tolerance, mateship and looking out for one another, community, family, the enjoyment of life every day and an easygoing nature that infuses every newcomer after just a few weeks in this marvellous, sunburnt land.

These are all core values of football, the game that perfectly fits with what Australia is, and wants to be, this century.

They are not, however, the values of soccer, not in this country, a term with all the connotations of the "Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters" mentality to which Johnny Warren was so rabidly sensitive and proudly opposed. So for anyone to argue that a term is merely a term, nothing more, misses the point entirely.

Football is valued, respected, a part of a global game, a connecting force with our regional trading partners; the game of the future, a game for all, the most democratic of games suitable for every child, boy or girl; the game that offers a life of incredible experiences and unfathomable riches, and the very sporting future of this great sporting nation.

Soccer was a term inherited from elsewhere, used to denote the mistakes of the game's past. Critically, Australia was mature enough to leave this term behind. That it is still used in New Zealand, the United States, Canada and not many other places is telling, because none of them understand or respect the game and are out of tune with the rest of the world.

We are not. No longer.

We are a football nation, we value the game, we want above all to win at the highest level and are now investing millions of dollars to learn how to do so, and all because football has grown up, along with Australian society.

There exists a significant but rapidly diminishing anti-football bias in the Australian media. I know, I've been in it for almost a decade now, and countless radio, magazine and television interviews have shown me unequivocally this is the case.

Soccer had immense cultural and administrative issues, undoubtedly, but never question that major media organisations, particularly those with huge commercial interests in other codes, strategically capitalised on these issues.

The difference is that, today, these interests and the mind-numbingly stupid people who carry out their outdated agendas stand out from the crowd, because our nation has moved on, and up, and prejudice reeks.

But perhaps the final hurdle to overcome is this, that the most ardent football fans who live the game daily, myself included, are at times described as ''radical'', ''diehards'' or even better, ''extremists'', in some sort of misguided attempt to paint passion as dangerous or disturbing.

Nothing could be further from reality.

Life is passion, without it we are dead, and nowhere is passion better expressed than through football, the game of extraordinary emotional breadth.

Today all Australians can express their love for football, watch only football and support football, and not feel a need to be seen as a league, AFL or union supporter merely to conform to an outdated concept of Australian-ness.

To the contrary. They are, in fact, the most modern and enlightened Australians.

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